I need advice from bun parents who undergo regular burring process. Do they give up on chewing ultimately and get dependent on soft food . My 3.5 year nz white female bun went through 2 surgeries last two months. She chews for 10-15 days after dental and then her grass intake decreases and i have to feed her soft food . So the surgery isnt doing her much good for a long period . Should i take interval between the surgeries and focus on feeding her anyhow or go through burring every month which is clearly taking toll on her
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Frequent dental issue
- Thread starter Jemi
- Start date
I checked the weight of my dental bunnies weekly. You get used to the pattern of when they need another procedure, although the intervals can change over the years. Some of mine used to be able to eat only certain leaves off suspended branches, and finely shredded or grated fresh food. Grass could be cut into very short lengths (a few mm) and added to the rest of the food. A couple were alse fed on mush daily, so either soak their usual pellets and mash it with a bit of eg apple puree baby food, or use one of the commercial critical care type powders. I tended to syringe feed them so I knew exactly what they had eaten, but you can also leave it on a heavy saucer if they will eat on their own reliably. Whatever happens, they need to have the food / fibre input daily - however that is achieved - to keep their guts going. Having dodgy teeth is just something to work around and get burred as needed. You can't do one in favour of the other.
Yes , mine needs one every six weeks . But this frequency is causing her lot of stress . So i am taking 3 month interval this time and feeding her critical care .
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
I assume she has the procedure done under GA?
Is the vet Rabbit Savvy?
Exactly what is done at each dental and has skull radiography been done too ?
Yes done under ga. X ray was taken just before burring not afterwards . Yes he was a rabbit savy with a good record . I talked with another patients and some were ok for a long time and some needed regular burrings
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
What did the Vet say about the X-ray ?
Rabbits teeth grow continuously, so if they don’t eat grass/hay then the rate of progression of the dental problems will be relatively rapid. You say she stops eating grass. I assume you feed her hay as well as her having access to grass ?
If she always has 10 tbsps pellets a day, even when she’s eating grass/hay then she’s unlikely to be eating enough hay/grass to wear her molar teeth down. She will fill up on pellets instead.
Prior to her recent two dentals has she had any dental problems before and have you had her all of her life ? Did she have a full blood profile run and if so did the Vet comment on her calcium levels ?
Rabbits teeth grow continuously, so if they don’t eat grass/hay then the rate of progression of the dental problems will be relatively rapid. You say she stops eating grass. I assume you feed her hay as well as her having access to grass ?
If she always has 10 tbsps pellets a day, even when she’s eating grass/hay then she’s unlikely to be eating enough hay/grass to wear her molar teeth down. She will fill up on pellets instead.
Prior to her recent two dentals has she had any dental problems before and have you had her all of her life ? Did she have a full blood profile run and if so did the Vet comment on her calcium levels ?
Vet said she has a rapid growth of her teeth. After the 1st dental she ate a lot of grass and hay . She had access to hay all day and night . I didn't have to increase her pellets intake as she was eating properly . Just after 4 weeks there was decrease in her chewing and she started grinding her teeth again. I fed her softened food for 1 week and went back and she had her 2nd procedure done .
This time after recovery she ate only specific part of grass. She ate hay one day and next day nothing . She is still able to eat greens. I never gave her pallets before eating grass/hay so that she tries to chew. But from yesterday she wont take any grass in her mouth , not even her favourite part . I kept her hungry even still no positive outcome . So i had to begin softened food today
This time after recovery she ate only specific part of grass. She ate hay one day and next day nothing . She is still able to eat greens. I never gave her pallets before eating grass/hay so that she tries to chew. But from yesterday she wont take any grass in her mouth , not even her favourite part . I kept her hungry even still no positive outcome . So i had to begin softened food today
vet gave her calcium supplement. I am giving it to her regularly. I had her when she was 3 months and started giving her grass from day 1 . She used to eat a huge amount of them and i never had to depend on too much pellets. There was no sign of any issue in last 3 years . She even never had stasis 
bunny momma
Wise Old Thumper
Some bunnies have a misalignment of their upper and lower teeth. Normally the side to side motion of eating hay will wear uppers against the lowers and vice versa. However, when the teeth do not align properly due to genetics or an injury, the teeth do not meet correctly and they do do not wear down properly, leaving high areas or spurs/points.
My Raven was a dwarf and over time one side of his molars would wear almost to his gums, yet very sharp points would form where his teeth did not wear and if allowed to grow the spurs would injure his tongue or cheek. His teeth misalignment got worse over time until he needed monthly dentals.
My vet did have to adjust his GA drugs because he was sensitive to one of the sedation meds. Once that was done he ate some greens right after his procedure.
Like others on this forum, I purchased different varieties of hay to encourage him to eat it, He ate the softer varieties/cuttings better. However, his teeth wore unevenly so he still needed dentals to remove the points that were rubbing on his cheeks and tongue.
He would pick up hay and take a few nibbles before stopping, so he wanted to eat, yet it was hurting him. He would not even eat hard pellets, so I let him eat his favorite greens and gave critical care until he was healed after his burring to keep him from losing more weight and going into stasis which he had several times.
He got accustomed to hands on care and regular vet visits. He bonded to me due to all the meds and syringe feeds.
Initially he got Medicam for pain to keep him eating when he was close to needing a dental.
Forgive me for the long post. I wanted to share my experience with a special dental bunny.
Sending you and your bunny vibes that you will be able to find a way to balance her vet visits and thr stress.
My Raven was a dwarf and over time one side of his molars would wear almost to his gums, yet very sharp points would form where his teeth did not wear and if allowed to grow the spurs would injure his tongue or cheek. His teeth misalignment got worse over time until he needed monthly dentals.
My vet did have to adjust his GA drugs because he was sensitive to one of the sedation meds. Once that was done he ate some greens right after his procedure.
Like others on this forum, I purchased different varieties of hay to encourage him to eat it, He ate the softer varieties/cuttings better. However, his teeth wore unevenly so he still needed dentals to remove the points that were rubbing on his cheeks and tongue.
He would pick up hay and take a few nibbles before stopping, so he wanted to eat, yet it was hurting him. He would not even eat hard pellets, so I let him eat his favorite greens and gave critical care until he was healed after his burring to keep him from losing more weight and going into stasis which he had several times.
He got accustomed to hands on care and regular vet visits. He bonded to me due to all the meds and syringe feeds.
Initially he got Medicam for pain to keep him eating when he was close to needing a dental.
Forgive me for the long post. I wanted to share my experience with a special dental bunny.
Sending you and your bunny vibes that you will be able to find a way to balance her vet visits and thr stress.
InspectorMorse
Wise Old Thumper
I would take her back to the Vet ASAP and discuss your concerns in detail.She must have a constant intake of food in some form otherwise she will develop secondary gut stasis.You say the Vet is very Rabbit Savvy, so he/she will be well qualified to advise you on the best way forward taking into account if your Rabbit can cope physically and psychologically with very frequent dentals. A holistic quality of life assessment is required.
There are different types of dental treatment required to address dental problems depending on the specifics of the individual case. Sometimes just burring off spurs is not enough. If you haven’t already done so I suggest reading this article in full
There are different types of dental treatment required to address dental problems depending on the specifics of the individual case. Sometimes just burring off spurs is not enough. If you haven’t already done so I suggest reading this article in full
Sometimes it's pot luck with how the teeth grow. I had litter brothers. One was fine, the other needed dentals every couple of months for years. You just have to work around it. Some breed types are more prone to dental problems (lops and short-faced types). Some were born from parents with dental issues, so inherited bad dentition. Others will just develop issues with age or from a diet lacking in the right sort of fibre (ie hay or grass). If they need additional feeding (eg Critical Care), that's what you have to do. Keep providing soft hay / readygrass, fresh grass, various greens, etc. Prepare them so they are easier to eat: long, thin strips of cabbage, grated carrot, etcThis really bothered me a lot . Why would she have abnormal growth at very early stage of life when she was on correct diet for a long time. She will stay hungry now but wont eat grass
Keey my huchi in prayers . I stay so afraid during her surgeries . I will take her back to vet and discuss this thoroughly . I guess she will have to do burring every 2 or 3 months
Huchi is also like this . She gets excited to see hay. Chews twice and then runs away . This morning she found some specific part and chew them .
And i know quite well she wont touch her hay again for whole day
bunny momma
Wise Old Thumper
Sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers for your Huchi.
Ask vet if her teeth are causing any soft tissue damage to her cheeks, tongue, or gums.
Also ask for pain meds to use as needed. She needs to keep eating, even soft food, to keep from getting stasis.
Ask vet if her teeth are causing any soft tissue damage to her cheeks, tongue, or gums.
Also ask for pain meds to use as needed. She needs to keep eating, even soft food, to keep from getting stasis.
